Aggie, I'm assuming you got a large format enlarger, probably a 4x5. (If its an 8x10, then GADZOOKS!) I just got a 4x5 operating a couple weeks ago. Since my setup has to remain semi-portable, I mounted it on a piece of 3/4" cabinet grade plywood. The local lumber yard always has some remnants so I didn't have to buy an entire very expensive sheet. The enlarger sits on top of my roll-away toolbox, which has about a thousand pounds of tools in it, so the "table" is very stable. One can attach some small tension wires between the column top and the wall using turnbuckles. This keeps the column from vibrating.

If I didn't have to keep the enlarger portable, I would have attached directly to the wall.

A friend gave me a pretty good book on all this stuff. Its titled "The New Darkroom Handbook", ISBN 0-240-80260-8. It has some very good plans for enlarger mounting and building a projection table underneath. I highly recommend it to you. Good luck and hope your carpentry skills are as good as your photography!

Aggie a small ugly table isn't very hard. Grab some dimensonal lumber from the local place [2x4s ] Some places will actually cut the lumber to your plans. OTOH it's safer to do the cutting yourself. Just make sure the pieces you pick up aren't warped. While you could cut fancy joints just screwing things together is good enough. Grab a bottle of glue and dab some on. If it's really heavy you might want to consider 4x4s for the legs. Pine or cedar not pressure treated.

For the top just grab one sheet of plywood good one side and one of pressboard. Have them cut this to size at the yard. You then make a sandwich of this. The good plywood on the outside. Glue it together add some screws. The top will be very strong. If you feel like it you can paint the top.

My 4x5 enlarger is on my work bench still. The bench is basically made up like I've described. Pine 4x4s for legs. 2x4 cross pieces. I did use half lap joints for the connections but it's over kill. My bench can easily hold my 150+lb enlarger and me. Plus all the other junk that's on it.

I'm going to force myself to make a smaller one next week for the enlarger so I can have my bench back.

Aggie, like you are with metal I am with wood and have a complete woodshop but even so I bought my darkroom furnishings. For a stable worksurface that doesn't have to be pretty I would go to used office supply stores or GoodWill etc to find a big heavy stable cabinet or desk. Or weld up something from angle iron since you are a metal worker. Those books are decent starting points but are pretty limited on different ideas for darkroom set ups so look around at every darkroom picture you can find.

My dry side is a desk height old cabinet with the enlarger wall mounted at maximum height for ceiling clearance. To bring the easal up to standing height I have a small 15" high box in front of the easal. By removing the box you can do very large projections. The lower cabinet height allows me to sit for most dry side opperations like loading and unloading film and has 8 huge drawers for storage.

If you start thinking "out of the box" you will be amazed at what you can pick up cheap or free that will work. My sink is a large stainless tray from a mortuary (let your mind run free on that one) that sits on several old two drawer filing cabinets. I was lucky on the sink but you can check out restaurant supply stores or call around Camera clubs, stores etc. for used photo sinks. I never used to see these around but lately with every one else getting out of wet darkroom I'd bet you can find one. Other wise the books show you how to build sinks.

The size and arrangement to fit the space you have is always custom. I have had roll it into bathroom size, permanent stainless sink in a bedroom closet size, old tables and laundry sink in basement size, and my full bedroom size that I now have. You are lucky to have all that space available. Add a bunch (lots and lots of) shelves and other storage cabinets and then all you have to do is the easy part, wiring and plumbing.

I got several sets of "saw horses" and a piece of formica from Home Depot. As I remember the whole thing cost less than 80 dollars and took 10 minutes to assemble. Formica comes in long runs and I got several about 8 feet long. I have a set on either side of the work area. Enlarger ,etc on one side, trays on the other.

I stole an end table from the living room for my Saunders 4x5. I also stole the coffee table from the living room for my 5x7. both were a quick, incredibly solid solution when my enlargers arrived. My wife got to buy 2 new ones, so it was a win-win situation. Of course, now, everytime I eye any of the remaining tables I get an unambigious warning, bodering on a threat, that it better never happen again...

So what did you buy, model and size? I would first do some design work and careful planning of your darkroom before setting things up. It is far better to plan before hand, then to do things by trial and error.